New PT GT...love it...exhaust and tires

[divera]

Wow, I've been lurking on this board for 3 months and finally brought home a fabulous fully loaded black autostick 2k3 PT GT this evening with my wife. I don't remember ever grinning so hard after driving any car ever. Heck, my wife has no interest in cars and she's gone nuts over it. Absolutely spectacular! Had some grins from fellow drivers out there too. Pretty uncanny.

Anyway, just a couple of questions. I've done searches for info which has been helpful, but I'd like to gather some info in one place for convenience sake.

First, the proverbial exhaust question. There's a shop about 15 minutes away from me that works with Borla, Flowmaster and Magnaflow exhausts...perfect for my Cruiser. I've eliminated BTG already, so my question is, which would be the most mellow (quiet) of the three? I'm only looking at singles, no duals. I'm leaning toward the Magnaflow cat-back s/s exhaust that Stephen R. installed just 'cause I like the looks of it.

Second, does anyone have experience with a decent all-season tire in light snow, yet performs decently well in dry/wet conditions? All I'm looking for is something that does better in dry/wet than the Goodyears and at least average in light snow. I need to replace the crappy Goodyears. Yes, I know about tires.com and tirerack.com. I'm looking for an observation or two here.

Third, I need a rubber cargo tray for the trunk area. I saw one at autotrucktoys.com made by Husky Liners for 80 bucks. Any opinion at all on this?? I just need something for wet/snow/cold weather so I can dump stuff in the back. Thanks.

Dave

[Mean Green]

Whatever exhaust you decide on remember a turbo wants and needs a flow through exhaust for optimum performance. I didn't pick any of those exhausts. I opted for a 2 1/2" catback Heartthrob single flow through exhaust. Great mellow sound.

[divera]

I've been looking into the Heartthrob as well. Looks pretty close to stock. If the noise is a step or two above stock that would work. I just don't want 5 or 6 steps up on the noise scale.

[Mean Green]

quote:Originally posted by divera

I've been looking into the Heartthrob as well. Looks pretty close to stock. If the noise is a step or two above stock that would work. I just don't want 5 or 6 steps up on the noise scale.

It's not 5 or 6 steps up on the noise scale. Maybe 2 up. Put it this way, my wife likes it and that is saying a lot [?]

[divera]

Thanks Green for the info. If it passes the wife test, I'll keep Heartthrob in mind. And of course thanks for actually offering any info at all. I'll probably get feedback from a few other sources being that posting here seemed to be a crash and burn type of idea.

Dave

[Kirby]

Whatever exhaust you choose, I am sure that you will be happy with the outcome. The O.E. exhaust is compression bent, I'm sure the I.D. is only about 2" in the radical 90 degree bends. (My suggestion is to make sure and get as large a bore and mendrel bent tubing...more power and better mileage.....go for the flow.)

I have the Yokohama ES tire on the stock rim and love it(along with many others). Great on wet roads, fantastic on dry pavement. The 215 X 50 only throws in 1 extra mile per hour at 60, the trade off is more than an inch extra tread on the ground...and they look, well, aggressive.[8)]

[Mean Green]

quote:Originally posted by Kirby

Whatever exhaust you choose, I am sure that you will be happy with the outcome. The O.E. exhaust is compression bent, I'm sure the I.D. is only about 2" in the radical 90 degree bends. (My suggestion is to make sure and get as large a bore and mendrel bent tubing...more power and better mileage.....go for the flow.)

I have the Yokohama ES tire on the stock rim and love it(along with many others). Great on wet roads, fantastic on dry pavement. The 215 X 50 only throws in 1 extra mile per hour at 60, the trade off is more than an inch extra tread on the ground...and they look, well, aggressive.[8)]

Kirby, what did the Yokohamas cost you. I'm looking at new rubber in the near future.

[blueberrygt]

I also opted for the Heartthrob Single Exhaust. It's extremely quiet (IMO), yet has a nice deep tone when on the throttle. It also looks similar to stock, which is nice because it doesn't stand out too much. The fitment and quailty is also great, considering the price. There are a few coupon codes availible for 10-15% off of the Heartthrob exhaust if you order it online through JCWhitney.

Here is a picture of what the HT exhaust looks like from the rear:
http://www.blueberryfocus.com/ptexh2.jpg


The Continental ContiExtremeContacts are also another good All-Season tire and are fairly priced around $95 each.

[CraigO]

The tires that fit your bill of parameters.......are the stock tires you now have -

Craig

[RobGT]

I just got Pirelli PZero Nero 215/45/WR17 to replace my worn out Goodyears.
Ratings are top in all categories but Treadwear, cost less than stock as well.
Ordered them after seeing them on a CL55 AMG Benz!

BTW, I wanted the Yokos but opted for the all season instead.